Renegade Part 1
by Cat 2
Summary: What if Dick had died instead of Jason? Now betaed by the lovely Green Gallant
1. A Death in the Family

I own nothing. This story was inspired by Laure Alexander story "Bringing him home." she gave me permission to use the idea, so here it is. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Part 1 Denial Or A death in the family

_I'm sorry Bruce. Should have listened you. Should have waited._

_/_Smash/

_Can't take him on on my own, you were right._

_/crack/_

_Babs, I love you._

_/Crunch/_

_Bruce .Jason. Alfred. I'm sorry._

/thump/

*

It had been a difficult patrol.

The Joker was still at large and he hadn't managed to contact Dick since their argument at the hospital.

He had sent Jason back nearly an hour ago, and with no Batgirl or Nightwing, he was tired and worried.

The phone rang just as he passed the hall table. Without thinking he answered it.

"Wayne Manor?"

"Mr Wayne." He recognised the voice, a cop, Harvey he thought his name was, not one of Batman's biggest fans. "Would you please come to Gotham General?"

"What's wrong?" He asked, his voice running through the worst scenarios, or what he thought were the worse scenarios.

"We believe we have the body of your ward, Richard Grayson here."

*

They walked through the hospital towards the morgue, the whole thing feeling surreal in Bruce Wayne's clothes. Harvey Ballock kept talking, but only snatches of what he said seemed to reach him.

"...Massive Explosion a warehouse...Playing card found near the scene...Dead upon Arrival...Massive trauma..." they had reached the viewing room and Ballock paused, his hand on the door and his face as near to sympathy as it could get.

"I should warn you. It's not pretty."

Bruce nodded, fighting Batman's desire to tell him that he'd seen worse.

Because they were wrong. They had to have made a mistake. Dick couldn't be dead.

O.K., they'd had an argument at the hospital, Dick wanting to go after Joker that second and Bruce Arguing that they needed more intelligence, and Dick had stormed off, but he would have waited. Dick obeyed orders.

Ballock tapped on the glass, and the attendant pulled the cover off.

He shook his head.

"No. That's not Dick."

"Mr. Wayne, if you would look again."  
"No." His voice was firm. "That can not be my son."

He could hear someone screaming, a wild animal sound lost of words. They should really tell them to keep it down in here, with the dead laid out in neat rows.

It was only as he felt Alfred's arms around him, and heard the soft voice confirming what he was sure had to be a lie, that he realised the screams were coming from him.

TBC


	2. Becoming Nightwing

Part 2 Becoming Nightwing. Or Anger

The rain drummed loudly on the roof, almost drowning out the sound of the alarm. The siren's wailing woke Lian, who started to cry.

"It's O.K. baby. It's alright." Roy soothed, glancing at the security monitors, blinking. His eyes had to be wrong; it couldn't be Robin, crouched on his roof in the pouring rain.

Carefully, he made sure that Lian was safe, knocked an arrow to his bow and headed on to the roof.

His eyes hadn't been deceived; it was Robin, but not his Robbie. The new kid,-what was his name again? Jason- was crouching on his rooftop, apparently too exhausted to go on.

"Robin?" He called softly, cos it was never a good idea to sneak up on Bats.

"Roy?" The eyes behind the green mask squinted. "What are you doing in Gotham?"

O.k. something was badly wrong. He was about to argue with the young man, when he realised that there was something wrong with his left eye. From where he was standing, he could tell it was swollen, and there was something running down one side of his mask.

"Come on in."

He was surprised that the kid offered no protest, and followed him down into the apartment.

Lian had apparently gone back to sleep as soon as the alarm had gone off, for which he was grateful. Especially when he turned to look at Jason.

The kid's left eye was swollen, making it almost impossible for him to open it. Above the eye, just where it met the mask, a long cut bisected the kid's eyebrow.

The flesh coloured tights that ran down from the Panties were torn, the skin underneath them covered with grazes and abrasions. He was soaked to the skin and shivering.

A hot bath, dry clothes, cleaning up the wounds and a bed for the night were what the kid needed. The first was soon in motion and the second proved surprisingly easy. Despite been nearly eight years younger than Roy, they were virtually the same height. He wasn't sure if that made him a short ass or Robin large for his age.

Carefully, he dug in his drawers locating some sweats.

"Here." He said, "Hit the shower, then put these on."

Jason paused, blinking up at him.

"We're not in Gotham."

Roy shook his head. "Reason why they call your boss the World's greatest detective. You're in Star City kiddo."

Something, and he wasn't sure what, passed over the kid's face at the mention of Batman.

"I should go back, they'll be worried."

Roy held out a hand.

"Kid, it's four in the morning. You're soaked to skin and hurt. Go swinging around in this weather and you'll catch pneumonia." He watched as the logic of this ran across the kid's face.

"I'll call Oracle, tell her to let them know you're O.K., and you can set off back to Gotham at a resemble hour."

He expected an argument, but the kid nodded slowly and headed towards the bathroom.

Frowning slightly at the odd behaviour, Roy headed for the kitchen. A hot drink would help avoid the worst effects of the weather.

He knew things hadn't been easy for the kid since Dick's death. He hadn't seen either the kid or Batman since the funeral, but he'd heard the rumours.

How Bruce had broken down at the hospital, after seeing Dick's body. How he'd been virtually Cationic for nearly three weeks, only going out for patrol, with the intentions as far as anyone could tell of getting himself killed. Alfred had had to make all the arrangements for the funeral.

For the little he had heard regarding the kid, Jason had had to be the strong one, keeping Bruce alive and Alfred together, while trying to deal with his own pain. It can't have been easy, especially with the rumours he'd heard from the JLA about how much more brutal the Bat was getting...

Roy dropped the mug. It fell crashing to the floor, but he barely heard it. The facts all suddenly added up.

Jason turning up on his roof, cold, tired and injured. He was the only Titan he'd had any contact for any great period. The strange look on his face when he mentioned Bruce, the lack of fight about his staying here.

He was outside the bathroom door, his hands on the knob, when he paused. That wouldn't work, he'd have to wait.

Slowly, he backed off and waited for the sound of the shower to stop, and Jason to head out.

Jason had pulled on his sweats, and sat down on the couch, his head hanging.

Roy sat down on the chair, sensing somehow that he shouldn't sit next to Jason.

"Jason." He said, softly. "What happened to you?"

The blue eyes stared back at him, furious. "Nuthin"

""Nuthin" Doesn't leave you with a black eye and a cut eyebrow. And it doesn't leave you in Star City without a clue how you got there."

Jason's eyes remained on his lap.

"Jason." Roy hated himself for doing this, but he had to know. "Did Bruce cause this?" he reached out and touched the skin around eye, wincing, as the kid did so.

"He didn't mean it." Jason's voice wasn't much above a whisper. "It was my own stupid fault."

Roy felt his temper rising.

"The guy hits you hard enough to give you a black eye and a cut that needs snitches." He suddenly realised that despite his plans to the contrary, the cut is still bleeding. Quickly he hands over a cloth. "Here. Keep pressure on it." The kid obeyed. "You want to tell me how that's your fault?"  
Jason's hands pushed the cloth against his eyebrow, shrugging as he did so.

"He was taking down a bad guy. I got in the way."

Roy wasn't sure what terrorized him most, the action itself or the matter of fact way that Jason said it.

"What had this guy done?" He asked, hating himself for wishing it was drugs or rape, or something like that to justify the force that must have been involved.

Jason shrugged. "Graffiti I think."  
Graffiti! Roy forced himself to stay calm. Something was definitely wrong with the kid, but with a cut eyebrow, a black eye and both of them almost dead from exhaustion at 4 am, he wasn't going to get it out of him now.

Carefully he put butterflies over the cut. He'd been right, it really needed stitches, but he knew from experience that he didn't stand a hope in hell of getting this kid to an emergency room.

There was nothing he could do about the eye, except pass a bag of frozen vegetables over, and the legs were dealt with quickly.

Slowly, he showed Jason to the guest room, promising to call Oracle. It was as he stood in the door that the idea occurred to him.

"How you'd like to come to Titan's Tower this weekend?"

The blue eyes blinked incomprehensively at him.

"I'm not a Titan."

Roy smiled. "The little lady in my room might say different." He sighed. "Look, just look at it as a break, alright? I know you bats. you're too godam serious."

"Not according to Bruce." the face was creased in a frown, and Roy added.

"It'll be O.K." though he wasn't sure of that.

"Look, just promise me you'll give it some thought." He planned to get Oracle (and through her Alfred) on side. Jason and Bruce needed some time apart and this was the only way he could come up with.

"O.K." Jason was clearly eager for him to leave, and he did so, shutting the door behind him.

Once in the corridor, he called Oracle and let her know where the wayward Robin was. After that he paused.

"Hey, O, what can you tell me about Jason's past?"

* * *

Jason had come that weekend, and most weekends since. Usually he arrived about noon on Sunday, and left on Monday in time for school.

The little he said, or rather didn't say, told Roy that things weren't improving between him and Bruce, and it made Roy glad that the kid had somewhere to retreat.

Even if occasionally some idiot would call him Dick.

After these weekends, Roy couldn't see how anyone could think they were similar.

Dick's hair had been midnight black, while Jason's was a very dark shade of Brown.

Dick was fairly open and honest; telling you what was going on in his life (once he'd got over the bat educed paranoia). With Jason you had to read between the lines.

Both loved fighting, but for different reasons. Dick loved the physical contact that came with it, where as Jason loved fighting for the sheer hell of it.

Jason's accent was pure Gotham, where as despite school's best efforts, Dick had never lost the Romany twang.

Dick was sunlight, but Jason was a volcano, all passion and fury that seemed ready to explode in a moment.

Dick's motivation for his involvement in this had always been love of Bruce. Jason on the other hand... there was a fire, a passion, a love in his eyes and his voice when he spoke about Gotham, spoke about protecting her people. The only person who he'd ever met who sounded like that was Bruce.

Maybe that was the root of the problems between him and the Robins. Dick was too different, Jason was too similar.

But the biggest difference, in his opinion between Dick and Jason, was that he'd been too caught up in his own shit to save Dick. That, he vowed, watching Jason shovelling down breakfast before Alfred arrived, wouldn't happen this time.

* * *

He could hear what was going on, long before he reached Jason's room. Most of the Titans were gathered around the door, apparently trying to get up the courage to knock. He glanced at Raven, who shrugged.

"He is very angry. And in pain." She said, as though the noise from the room wasn't a hint enough.

Sighing, he placed a hand on the door, "Jason. It's me, Roy Harper. Can I come in?"

There was no response, except for the continuing sounds of things breaking.

Roy breathed deeply, praying that Jason hadn't locked the door, and thankful for all the times he'd sparred with Dick, and that he was an archer with good upper body strength. He placed his hand on the door knob. It turned easily and he stepped in.

Jason's room always looked like a hurricane had hit it, but today it looked more like a nuclear explosion had happened. Everything that wasn't nailed down seemed to have overturned on to the floor.

All the papers, clothes and anything that had been inside the furniture were covering the carpet.

In the middle of it all, Jason stood raging. He flung himself at the walls, fists flaying.

Breathing deeply, Roy moved and grabbed Jason. The screams grew worse and worse.

Keeping his voice calm, he repeated. "Jason. I'm not going to let you hurt yourself."

"Fuck off! Let Me Go!"

"I'll let you go, when you calm down."

The moments passed, while Jason's curses and blows slowed down. The screams eventually reduced to whimpers and the whimpers to sobs.

Roy nodded, to let the rest of the Titans know that it was O.k. and held the sobbing Jason against him, enjoying the few moments before Jason would pull himself together and pull away. He admitted it, he missed hugging Dick.

"You wanna tell me what this's all about?" he asked softly. Jason sniffled and pointed to three bits of paper on the floor.

Roy leant over and picked them up. The first was a formal letter address to Jason, letting him know about the death of a Sheila Haywood, aid worker from Ethiopia. According to the letter, she had been killed in a terrorist explosion. The letter said that she had left a letter to be delivered to Jason in the event of her death.

The second and third pieces were the letter. Roy glanced at Jason to check he was O.K with him reading, but the second Robin seemed grateful, despite the letter being highly personal.

It was the last brutal words of a woman who knew she was about to die. A woman who'd made a deal with the devil.

She was honest, about the illegal operations on teenager girls, about her relationship with a married man, about the adoption, and about her dealings with the Joker. She'd known what she was getting herself into and she'd refused to hide.

Briefly Roy wandered which was hurting the small broken bird worse.

"Why?" it was so low that he almost didn't hear him.  
Why this woman had got into an alliance with the Joker? That he never know. Why she gave up her baby when he was only a few hours old? That he didn't know either, he could never imagine giving up Lian.

But he did think he could say something that might help.

"When I first went to live with Ollie," he said, slowly. "I called the Navajo my people." He smiled slightly. "Bit weird, given that there aren't that many Navajo with red hair."

Jason sniffed.

"It created a lot of problems at school. They erumm, they'd make Red Indian noises at me." He paused. "I still think of them as my people, despite of everything and Brave Boy as my father." He put his head on one side. "A Wiseman once told me that family's what you make it. And" He added. "I know something else."  
"What?" Jason asked, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"She must have really loved you." At Jason's confused expression, he expanded. "She was arrested and thrown out of Gotham for performing illegal abortions, right?"

"It's what the letter says."

"Then if she hadn't wanted you, she could have got rid of you. So she must have wanted you."

"So why she'd give me up?"

Roy shrugged. "Why did Cheshire give Lian to me? She must have thought that she was giving you a chance at a better life."

He didn't add that from the little Oracle had been able to find out about Jason's life before Robin, she had probably being wrong. Well, he thought as he hugged the sobbing robin to him, none of us are perfect.

"You want me to call Bruce or Alfred?"

Jason shook his head. "They don't know." The blue eyes, rimmed with red, rested on Roy, a challenge written into them.

"They won't hear it from me," Roy promised silently. "And neither will the rest of the Titans."

Dinah might, but experience taught him he could rely on Dinah to keep her mouth shut.

"Thanks." It was muttered so low that he had hardly heard it. And he knew he had no chance of getting him to repeat it.

He nodded. "You want some help cleaning up?"

At the shaken head, he got up.

"Just remember, little Wing, Titans together. You don't have to go through this alone."

Jason nodded vigorously, though Roy suspect that was simply to get him to leave.

"See you later short Pants." He noticed the faint wince on Jason's face, before the response came.

"Bye Arrow breath."

* * *

The room was in darkness when he entered.

Robin had arrived at the Tower earlier than usual and had been spoiling for a fight all day. As a result Roy had suggested a training session that afternoon, figuring that if the kid wanted, needed, to beat someone up, it might as well be in the confines of a sparring exercise.

But Robin hadn't shown up.

The costume lay on the bed, its bright colours looking garish against the cover. His heart was in his mouth, as he looked around.

"I can't do it." The voice came from the chair, and he turned to see Jason coiled up there, hugging himself. "I can't go on."

Roy slowly lowered himself on to the floor.

"So what you're going to do?" he asked. Jason shrugged.

"I don't know. I just know I can't be Robin anymore."

There was a pause.

"Do you want it all to stop?" Roy asked uncertainly. The dark curls moved vigorously.

"No. I just can't be Robin any more."

"You have any idea who you want to be?"

There was a pause, before the head nodded. Roy had a pretty good idea of who he wanted to be too.

"Can I help?" He asked, expecting a fairly firm No.

"Yeah." Robin had pulled himself off the chair, his face determined. "Can you contact Superman for me?"

* * *

He breathed deeply and got to his feet.

This was it. Roy had offered to be there, for this, but he had refused. This was something he had to on his own.

He had redesigned the costume, there was more black in it than the original, and the mask was a domino, but it was still obvious.

Slowly, he stepped out into the cave. Batman was at the computer. He turned around at his entrance.

"Robin." He began.

"Not Robin." He said, firmly. "Call me Nightwing."

TBC

Let me know what you think.


	3. Robin

Chapter 3 Bargaining

Alfred was waiting for him when he got back. Sitting at the kitchen table.

"Good evening, Master Jason."

Jason sat down. He had known this moment was coming. There was no way Alfred couldn't have heard the argument from below.

"I'm not trying to hurt him Alf." He said softly.

"I never suggested that you were."

"I'm...I'm trying to help him." he got to his feet and began to pace. "Robin is supposed to be the Light to Batman's darkness, the guy who stops him before he goes too far, the distraction, a goofy kid in a stupid costume." He paused. "He's also supposed to follow orders without questioning; even if he thinks those orders will get Batman killed. Normally, that's cool. Bruce knows what he's doing. But since Dick..."

He looked into the old eyes. "If something isn't done, then he was going to kill someone or himself. Either way we'd never get him back. A sidekick can't interfere in that. A Partner can. A partner can call you on stupid decisions, handle things on his own, and generally watch your back. That's what Bruce needs right now. Not some dopey kid in a bad Halloween costume."

"So you decided to become Master Bruce's partner, with out consulting anyone." Alfred's tone was calm, but Jason could hear the disapproval.

"No. I got the Titans' and Superman's permission to use the name." He shook his head. "I've made my decision, Alfred. There's no way I'm going back."

"And where does that leave the Dynamic Duo?"

Jason licked his lips. "At the moment, the last thing Bruce needs is some kid running around in the Robin Costume. It reminds him too much of Dick, of what they were. Later, when he's had some chance to grieve, then there'll be another Robin. It just won't be me."

He looked straight at Alfred. "I was never cut out for that. We both know that. I can't be light. It...It nearly killed me trying."

Probably would have done if Dick hadn't gone first.

He bit his lip. "I give you my word Alfred, that there will always be a Robin. And that...that I'm not going any where." He looked at the man who was the nearest he'd ever had to a grandfather. "I… I need to do this. For Bruce's sake if nothing else."

"And you have your...replacement in mind?" Alfred asked softly. Jason nodded.

"But I'm not telling you who."

"And I do not wish to know." There was a pause, as Alfred moved and made tea. "I will endeavour to persuade Master Bruce, to your line of thinking."

Jason grinned.

"Thanks Alfred."

*

Despite the two years between them, getting the kid on his own was surprisingly easy.

Jason was the first to admit, he didn't know the kid that well. He'd seen him at some of the Parties, Bruce had forced him to attend, and around the school, but aside from that hurried whispered conversation at the funeral…

He had been standing there, the line of people passing along, muttering their condolences, hating every minute of it, but knowing he had to do this, make all the correct response, because they're was no way in hell that Bruce could do that now, and most of these people wouldn't acknowledge Alfred if he hit them. The only time Bruce had actually proved that he was alive had been when Jim Gordon and Barbra had turned up, and even then it had just been a slight change in expression, blinked and you missed it.  
The kid's father was apparently some guy Bruce had known like forever, recently widowed, with a teenage son. The father had merely shaken his hand, made the proper sympathy noises, and moved on. The Kid however, had glanced both ways to make sure that no one was in earshot, and spoken in a low voice.

"Nightwing was amazing."

He had blinked, convinced he'd misheard him, that nights without sleep; watching Alfred crying while he did the silver, thinking he was alone; of watching Bruce just sit in that chair waiting for nightfall, had finally driven him to hallucinations. But he had to be sure.

Thankfully, both had been invited to the Wake, and it was easy enough to get the kid on his own.

"What," He'd said, trying to keep his voice tough, like the street rat Bruce had found, "did you say?"

The kid had swallowed, but met his eyes.  
"I said Dick Grayson, Nightwing, was amazing."

The look on his face must have spoken volumes for the kid hastened to reassure him. "It's alright, I promise I won't tell, not that anyone would believe me, but…"

He'd looked at Jason, and asked, "How is he?"

There was no doubt which "he" he meant. In their world there was only one he.

He didn't know what made him tell the truth, maybe the funeral had got to him, maybe it was the knowledge that the Joker had escaped again, maybe it was the 20 year old scotch he'd snuck off one of the waiters.

"Not good."

The kid had nodded. "I'd love to help out, if I can…" he had trailed off, and Alfred had come to find them both, to let them know the kid's father was leaving.

Carefully, he checked that their contemporaries were too far up their own asses to notice.

"Hey kid," he said, keeping his voice soft. "Wanna make good on that offer from the funeral?"

*

If anyone had told Roy Harper, that Jason Todd would be a good teacher, the first time they'd met, he'd have laughed at them.

Jason didn't seem to have the patience that teaching required, yet the last few months had forced Roy to revise his opinion.

First there had been Tim Drake, soon making his début as Robin (once someone had actually got around to telling Bruce). Then a couple of months later a new Batgirl had turned up. Then there was Spoiler, who Jason had apparently found on Patrol. The kid, part way between Superhero and Runaway, had a super villain for a father, and had been half way to following the same path when Jason found her. Now she was well on the way to becoming a superhero, with Oracle and her Birds of Prey (what was it about the Batclan and birds?).

The other members of the Justice League clans hadn't been idle either. The Flashes had sent Impulse (who seemed determined to drive all mad before he even hit four), Superman had found a "clone" of himself when foiling one of Luthor's plans, and Wonder Woman's latest mentee, a daughter of Zeus no less. All was need now for the Arrows to add something to Jason's rag tag team, and they'd have the next generation of the Justice League ready formed.

He laughed softly at this thought, as Jason came into the kitchen.

"Hey."

Jason grunted, retrieving a soda from the fridge.

"Team's looking good."

Jason shrugged. "Room for improvement."

Roy smiled. "They look a lot better than we were at the same age."

"Got a good teacher."

Roy smiled. It made him even more sure that they'd made the right choice.

"What's this I hear about you dating a Don?"

Jason flushed. "Don't think a guy who had a kid with an international assassin is in any position to point fingers."  
There was no real malice in the statement. Jason adored and was adored by Lian, and Roy suspected that he was expecting a variant of the lecture he'd have got from Batman. He waited patiently, and Jason sighed.

"Her name's Marie and she ain't a Don."

"Daughter of a Don, then."

"Only if you're stretching it. Vincent Cavonvelli was a Sicilian immigrant and a version of the American dream. Arrived in this country with $5 and 50 cents and a heavily pregnant wife. He managed, via a letter of recommendation from his godfather, to get employment with the Falcones, as a two bit thug. He and his wife settle down to raising their daughter in Crime Alley."

"Where you two met." Roy guessed. Jason smiled

"She's the one who introduced me to Neapolitan ice cream." He shrugged. "After the Falcone's final defeat, Vincent found himself in hot water. He must have annoyed someone, cos one afternoon, Marie comes home and finds her mother dead on the kitchen floor. Crime's still unsolved, cops barely made an effort." The anger in his voice at someone daring to treat his people this way was touching. "Vincent seems to have sent his mind on settling the score, worked his way up to become a major player in Gotham, but only in Gotham, in Metropolis and Star City he was just an irritating fly. Two weeks ago, as part of a move to prove the untouchability of the police, Commission Atkins decides to arrest Vincent. Takes Vincent, but leaves his operation largely intact. Vincent's theory been his daughter and lieutenants can run it till he's out.  
"Despite women traditionally having no place in the Mafia hierarchy?"

"In spite of that. Doesn't work too well, Idiot gets himself stabbed in the shower two days into his sentence, and leaves his daughter at the mercy of a pack of wolves."

"And you turned up as her knight in shining armour?"

Jason shrugged. "Basically." He took a long sip of soda. "Any of her family interests that the wolves hadn't got hold of, she handed over to her godfather, Tony Corleone, which hasn't endeared her to Bruce, even with the proviso he stay out of Gotham."  
Roy nodded. He could see Bruce's point of view, but also the girl's. There was no way she could ever completely escape her family, so her solution made sense. Jason was giving him a bat questioning look.

"Why do I think this has nothing to with my sex life?"  
Roy grinned. "And to think we once accused you of having no detective skills, little wing." He sighed. "You know I've been helping out the CBI, occasionally with Drugs enforcement."

Jason nodded, that was common knowledge.  
"They've offered me a full time position, and I'm tempted to accept."  
"You should." Jason said, ignoring his heart pounding against his ribcage. If he was honest Roy was his best friend in the superhero community, the only one who seemed to see him as his own man, Not batman's shadow. Not Dick Grayson's replacement. He didn't want to lose that.

Roy continued. "It certainly makes sense. Lian's getting bigger she need some stable influence in her life." He shot the kid a glance. Over the last couple of years he'd become very good at reading Jason. "But she still needs her wild Uncle Jason." He watched the kid smile at that, and continued. "Either way, I'm not going to lead the Titan's anymore."

Jason shrugged. He'd figured that out. Roy had taken over after Dick's death, but it had been viewed by everyone, including Roy as temporary.  
"So who's in charge?" He asked, cautiously. "Wally? Garth? Kyle? Kara? Raven? Kory?"

Roy shook his head. "Flash is running with the big leagues now, so Kyle. Garth's interests are fairly firmly confined to Atlantis's. Kara's got some news of possible survivors from Krypton that might include her father. She wants to investigate them further. Raven…" he trailed off and Jason grinned.

"Good point."

"Kory's going home." Roy finished. "She was never happy here, after…"  
"After." Jason agreed.

Roy flushed. "She got the chance of being some ambassador to an Alien planet and she told the meeting she'd take it."

Neither of them mentioned Jason's absence from said meeting. They both knew that after one early disaster of a meeting soon after Jason had started hanging out with the Titans, Jason had avoid such meeting like the plague, normally by training while they were on.

"So…" Jason asked, jerking him back to the present. "Who's in charge?"

Roy drew a breath. "You."

O.k. it had been a mistake to tell him while he was drinking soda. Most of it splattered over the table, but a bit splattered over him.

"Me?" Jason screamed at him, and Roy nodded. "NO way in hell."

"Why?" Roy asked genuinely puzzled. Then he followed Jason's eyes. Someone (and he'd didn't know who) had hung a photo of the original teen titans in the kitchen, the day after Dick's funeral. Dick grinned out at them, sitting mid center. And suddenly it all made sense.

Jason had spent most of his life trying to get out from under Dick's shadow. In his eyes this would be a step back. Taking on a job his brother had done, everyone comparing them. He cursed himself for his own stupidity.

Slowly, carefully, he spoke again. "Most of the original team is gone. All grown up. There's only Cyborg and Beast boy, and neither of them knew Dick that well. Those kids you're working with through there," he nodded in the direction of the gym. "They're the future." He drew breathe. This was going to hurt him, but if it was what it took to persuade Jason that this was what was the right thing to do, then he'd do it. "A couple of days ago, I was in here with…what's the superkid calling himself, Con?"

"Kon." Jason corrected.

"Right. Well he asked me who the guy in the photo was. When I told him it was Nightwing, he thought you'd been deaged or something."

He looked seriously at Jason, the way he had when he was trying to find out how things honestly were between him and Bruce. "You're Nightwing. Most people don't even remember another guy wore that costume. They remember Dick as Robin, but not as Nightwing."

Jason's face was thoughtfully, so he decided to play his trump card.

"Plus the Tower's got to be better for assignments than some dark alley in Gotham."

Jason's brows were pulled together. "It won't be like the Teen Titans." He said firmly.

"No." Roy agreed. "It might be better."

TBC


	4. Comparing scars

Chapter 4 Comparing Scars.

"Go Away!" Roy yelled at the door. Since the funeral, since the Revelations, there'd been a progression of well wishers attempting to beat down his door down. He just wanted them to go away, to leave him alone.

And when silence reigned for a few seconds, he thought he'd driven off whoever this was.

"You need better bolts Arrow." He lifted his head and saw Jason standing there. Next to him stood Marie, her face worried.

"Would they honestly stop you?" he asked, not really caring.

"No." Jason admitted, sinking down on the sofa opposite him. "Where's Lian?"

You could only have these types of conversations with a Bat.

"With Dinah. Figured she'd want to after…"

Marie nodded softly. "I'll go kidnap her from there then." She headed back out of the door and Roy barely had time to process his rather strange conversation, when he noticed that Jason had a plastic bag with him, that he was in the process of extracting a six pack from.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded roughly. Jason shrugged.

"Returning a favor."

Roy snorted. "More like checking up on the Junkie, making sure he doesn't slip back."

"No." Jason said, sliding a beer across to Roy. "I know you won't."

Roy blinked. "How?" He asked, cos lord only knew he wasn't sure himself. The cravings hadn't been this bad since he'd first quit and for once his brain was in agreement, just not wanting to feel any more.

Jason lifted his head, ice blue eyes boring into Roy.

"Cos, I didn't" as the impact of this sentence hit him, Jason added. "And I had a lot less going for me than you."

"You were a junkie?" The surprise in his voice, he hoped wouldn't be taken for judgment. At Jason's nod, he had to ask, "Does Batman know?"

Jason shrugged. "If he does, he hasn't said. Think Alfred does, but that's Alfred."

"How…Why?" Roy began, but Jason's blue eyes pinned him again.

"I was a street kid. My mom was a junkie until she died. Then I did whatever I had to survive." The eyes never wavered as he repeated. "_Whatever _I had to."

Roy nodded. Understanding the undercurrent and honored that Jason trusted him enough to tell him. He took the beer that was being pushed at him.

Jason continued. "First patrol after the funeral, we took down a drug dealer on Main. Bruce took off basically as soon as the guy was down, and all his stuff was just lying around there…" he paused. "Things were really rough. That night, before we went out, Bruce was in the cave when I got down. He was sewing…" At Roy's expression, he shrugged. "Bruce is pretty good at sewing. It's only cooking he sucks at." His arms were folded, and he was looking at Roy like he was a punk on patrol, daring him to laugh, he didn't. I was in the locker rooms, they didn't know I was there. You know that Bat symbol Bruce has on his chest these days?" Roy nodded. He remembered the symbols, and the rumors about it in the superhero community.

"Alfred was taking to him, while he sewed." He imitated the British accent. "and that's what you're anticipating? That's those cowardly and superstitious criminals will aim for your trademark icon rather than your very frightful mask? A shot to the heart as opposed to the head? How appropriate in a time of sorrow. You don't honor the boy by affixing a bulls eye to your chest." Bruce…wasn't really talking to anyone back then, he spotted me standing at the locker room entrance and just jerked his head towards the batmobile, which of course made Alfred madder. "off with you. Have your revenge. Wreak it upon whichever one you blame more, Master or Apprentice.""

Despite the warmth of the room, Jason shivered. "It felt like it didn't really matter whether I was there or not, like no one really cared if I was alive or dead. I…just wanted it to stop. To stop having to be the strong one." He fixed Roy with scarily blue eyes. "I was going to take the stuff, then I remembered Richard Milton."

"Who?"

"Kid I used to know. My best friend, for a while. Died of an Overdose at 12."

"I'm sorry." Roy said, but Jason shook his head.  
"Don't be. Was merciful for him and good for me. I stopped using afterwards." At Roy's face, he added. "Crystal meths mainly. Never had the money to get much above that and pot."

He sighed. "I left the guy for the cops, and managed to stop Bruce killing some guy off fifth. A neo Nazi, so if I'd let him succeed, no great loss, except for Bruce."

Roy nodded.

"Doubt he would have handled it better than Ollie."

"No." Jason agreed. "He would have seemed to through, if merely to give him something to lord it over Ollie."

"He gets that after all." Roy said, his good humour evaporating. "Least Bruce doesn't have a kid he didn't know about."

"At the moment." Jason pointed out. "There's seven paternity suits going on, three of which Lucius is worried about."

Roy sighed. "Point taken."

He took a sip.

"You on patrol later?" he asked. He hoped not, he was glad of the company.

"Trying to get rid of me?" Jason joked, though there was a worried look in his eyes. "Yeah. Introducing the new Robin tonight."

At Roy's expression, he shrugged. "Can't put it off forever, the rumours are really circulating and Alfred's being dropping hints."

He paused and added. "It'll be alright."

Roy gave a choked noise that Jason knew only too well.

"We'll get him back." He said, firmly, though it flew in the face of everything Batman had ever taught him. "We got Clark back didn't we? So why not him?"

Roy gave a choked sound that might have been Dick.

Jason ran his hand through his hair. " Look. I ain't religious. I don't know about God and honestly most of the time I don't care. Marie's never made a big deal out of it, she goes to Mass and that's the end of it. But…"

He glanced at Roy. "But…?"

"But there's some theory that we get released when we've done whatever we were put here to do. I can't believe that Ollie's completed what ever the hell he was meant to do, but I can believe that Dick did."

He sighed. "Look, I'll play it which ever way you prefer. We can sit here, get drunk and try not to talk about the elephant in the room, or…" He took a deep breath. "You can come with me and watch the new Robin Début."

Roy paused only for a second. "Let me grab a coat."

*

The kid was bouncing all around as they made their way to Gotham and to the point where Jason had arranged to meet Bruce.  
"You really think I'm ready to meet him?"

"Nope." Jason said, running his eyes over the kid. "But you'll do."

Roy forced himself to smile. "No One is ever ready to meet him, Baby bird."

He glanced at Jason. "Know any good rooftops in the vicinity?"

Jason grinned pointing to one just above their heads. "Oracle's got it all set up."

He swung himself up and actually had a good talk with Dinah, and Barbara, before Batman turned up. The females of the community had apparently gathered at Bab's for an Ollie is was jerk session, and Marie had decide to stay. Dinah sounded better for it, and he was so relieved about that, that he missed Batman's arrival.

"Batman needs Robin." Tim sounded terrorised, but was sticking his guns. Jason was too.

"Bruce. Like it or lump it, you need a partner, if merely to keep yourself alive. You need someone to train up."

Bruce said something about working alone, and Jason snorted.

"Bullshit. Before me, hell even before Dick, you had Alfred. And you've got the JLA backing you up. They've just lost one of their own, and they don't need to be worrying about it becoming two." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Things change Bruce. We grow up, we train and we hand the mantle on to the next generation, that's just the way it works. The way it should work. Sometimes it takes some persuasion to let go and see yourself as a mentor, rather than as a sidekick. But ultimately you have to. Cos that's the circle of life."

Roy fought the desire to laugh. He'd been set up. By a Bat. Ollie would never let him hear the end of this. The Bat clan had managed to set him up. The kid must have been patrolling with Bruce for a couple of nights already, based on the ease with which he followed Batman. He was laughing, semi hysterical when Jason came to pick him.

"That went well."  
"You. Set. Me. Up." Roy managed to gasp out. Jason nodded.

"Fraid so. Did it work?" He looked at the kid, not a kid, now nearly 17, and nodded.

"There was a reason for Dick calling you Bat Brat you know."

"Yept." Jason agreed. "And there's a reason I called Dick an idiot."

"He certainly wouldn't have done this." Roy agreed, with a sigh. He'd go find Connor. Jason was right, the kid was going to need someone, now that Ollie wasn't…around. And it looked like he was going to have to take Clark up on his offer.

"Yeah." Jason nodded, shooting a graphook into the air. "But I'm not Dick."


	5. Divide We Fall

Author's Notes: Warning during this Fic I will play pretty fast with DC Cannon, mainly because I'm a new fan and not to sure of the timeline. This part is based on the Divided We Fall story line in JLA, which I'm fairly certain was after Jason's restriction, but in my cannon it's before…well I won't spoil what happens next. It is advised that you have read that story line before reading this, as I suck at summaries

"Bruce?" Jason's voice came as he ran down the steps to the Bat Cave. "What's going on? Is everything all…"

He trailed off as he gazed at the scene. He was seeing the Justice League, in the Bat cave. That was unusual enough in itself, Bruce was fairly strict about the cave just being for bats (and occasionally Clark, but as Marie said he was family), but it wasn't what made him stop.

What did that, was that he was also facing their alter egos. He recognised Bruce (obviously) and had met Clark at a couple of fund raisers. Wally had been one of Dick's friends, so he was a no brainer, and Kyle had been a Titan. He didn't recognise the guy with brown hair, or the slimly looking guy, but one of them had to be Plastic man, and so the other must be J'onn. His money was on slimy guy as J'onn.

He shook himself. "Tim said something was up, but this…what happened?"

"We don't know." That was Batman alright, even if the cowl hadn't been a dead give away. "Something has spilt us."  
Jason rolled his eyes, in a manner that he knew irritated Bruce. That was pretty freaking obvious.

"Wonder woman and Aqua man will be supervising us." He presumed that meant the costume identities.

He sighed, deeply.

"Guess that means we're responsible for the Civs."

* * *

Explaining the situation to Alfred, and Tim, and Babs took time. Alfred merely sniffed and muttered something about twice as much work to do. Tim kept looking at Bruce half like he wanted to dissect him, but Babs was a lifesaver. She had current addresses for all Civilian identities, and contact information for friends of those like Eel O'Brian (Plastic man, who it turned out was Slimy guy) and John Jones, who didn't have any sidekicks to keep an eye on them.

At first, everything seemed to be O.K.

All right, there was that incident with J'onn, or John really crashing his car, but after years of relying telepathy, they should simply be grateful it wasn't worse.

It was about three hours into a patrol that Oracle phoned in.  
"Check on Bruce!" she said firmly.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Just do it."

He got the full story out of Alfred later, how some random guy had spray painted something (from Alfred's manner, he guessed it was rude), on the side of one of Bruce's cars, and that Bruce had flipped. His date had apparently taken off, and it was touch and go whether she'd go to the tabloids.

Nothing however compared to coming into the mansion to find Bruce in the big chair in the study. Not doing anything, just sitting still, staring out the window. At that moment, Jason had felt like he was 14 again, coming home from school to find Bruce in the same position he'd adopted after patrol.

He tried talking to Bruce, to get his side of the story, but got exactly the same response he'd got then, when telling Bruce about his classes. Nothing.

He's glad Tim's with his folks and not having to deal with this. He wouldn't wish this on his worst enemy, not even the Joker. And there wasn't much he wouldn't wish on that motherfucker.

He doesn't hear Marie come up, too caught up in the past, but he feels her hand on his shoulder.

"We have to do something." He says, aware of how desperate that sounds. Marie nods.

"Question is what?"

* * *

It was Kon who brought them the news at the next meeting. It had been postponed twice, cos with Batman virtually out of Gotham Jason and Tim have been on patrol virtually every night, and the first thing anyone says to them is "you look like shit."

"Thanks for the newsflash." Jason growled, sitting down at the head of the table. "Anyone got any useful observations they'd like to share?"

"Clark and Lois are separated." Kon says, as though it's no big deal. "She couldn't handle him not been superman."

"Why?" Marie asks. She looks nearly as bad as Jason and Tim, having been on "Bruce Watch" most of the week. Plus her normal Alfred duties and school.

Kon shrugged. "She didn't like Clark without Superman."

Kon may be very popular with Tim, but there were points when Jason would have gladly strangled the guy.

"What" he asked, channelling the Bat. "Is Clark without superman?"

Kon shrugged. "Scaredy cat." He said. "He's scared of paper if you can believe it."

And when Oracle's spying on both Eel and Kyle revealed that both were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Jason decided the time for action had come.

* * *

Clark rarely visited Gotham. The Bats didn't like _Anyone_ in their city without their permission, and in light of recent events he didn't think he'd get that.

However had the phone call come from anyone but Alfred, he'd have said he was panicking, but it was Alfred and it was about Bruce and that was enough to get him on the first flight to Gotham.

Alfred had opened the door, somehow managing to look dignified despite a jagged cut held together with butterfly tape over his right eyebrow.

"I am very glad to see you, Master Clark." He said, with quiet dignity. "The others are in the study, if you would follow me."

"What happened your…" he began, but Alfred interrupted him. " a minor accident, while cleaning. Absolutely nothing for you to worry about."

He opened the door of the study and Clark stepped in.

The room was a mess.

Someone had evidently being throwing things around, there's some china plates missing from the dresser, and a lot of fragments still on the carpet.

John is sitting on the sofa, a bandage wrapped around his head. Kyle is in a corner, pencils and pens scattered about him, his fingers working on what Clark hopes is a pinned up wall paper roll.

Eel sits, his eyes darting around like a caged rat. Wally is…sitting still. Clark thinks that's the most disturbing thing, until he sees Bruce.

Bruce is sitting in a chair, his face bruised, with a bandage across a broken nose. He's shivering, like he can't get warm, even though the room isn't cold.

"Bruce." He's by the chair, though how he got across the room that fast without super speed, he doesn't know. "Bruce. What happened?"

"He's being in a fight." Alfred had opened the door and the kids-what were the papers calling them? The Little Justice League?- had entered. Standing beside and behind Jason and Marie, Clark couldn't say that he saw anything amusing about the nickname.

"Three in fact." Marie continued. "Last night alone."

Clark blinked. Bruce? In a fight? But why?

"You know why" Jason's voice was hot and furious. "Look at you. All of you. If we don't fix this soon, then Arkham'll have six new patients."

Clark wants to argue, but finds he can't. There's no way he can pretend he likes his life as Superman, but without it…it's unbearable.

And one look at Kyle and O'Brian is enough to convince him that it's true for them.

Wally's just looking at his hands. But then John speaks up.

"No. I will not go along with what you are suggesting."

He glances at Jason, expecting an argument, but Jason sighs. "We could force you. Argue that the moment the league went down, protection came over to us, but that's not important. Bottom line, we can't force you. And if we could return the rest of the league to normal without you, then we would. But," he pressed a small button. Wonder Woman's voice came through. "Said…ID escaped by accident…lied…experiment to rule our…heavy casualties. ..Batman…Manhunter…Hera no!"

The transmission faded to static. Jason stared at the assembled JLA. "We've got a plan to fix this. But we need your help."  
"And if I still refuse?" John demanded.

Jason shrugged. "We've got a back up plan." He said, calmly, and his eyes rested on Wondergirl. "But we'd rather not use if there's another way."

There was a moment silence before John nodded.

"But I will not join back with him."  
Jason shrugged. "Let's hope you get an option."

* * *

Most of the bats seemed to take the opportunity once they were airborne, to fall asleep. Clark wasn't surprised. He'd seen enough articles in the last couple of weeks speculating on Batman's disappearance, to know that the boys must have been protecting Gotham on their own. This probably meant Marie hadn't been sleeping either, waiting for them to come in and probably keeping an eye on Bruce.

Bruce.

He forced himself to have a look at Bruce. Despite looking at least as exhausted as his charges, the prince of Gotham was still awake. He looked like…Clark couldn't even come up with a word for it. There was so much tension, so much angry, so much pain radiating off the man, that Clark had to fight the desire to either pull away, or pull Bruce towards him.

It was strange. He'd always thought, he supposed everyone had, that Bruce Wayne without Batman would just be a flop. That was who Brucie was after all.

But what he'd never thought about, what none of them had ever truly considered was what drove Batman out every night, beside the Bat mobile.

It was a little boy of eight or nine, kneeling in his parent's blood. That boy was Bruce Wayne, not batman.

"The spilt was imperfect." He blinked. The words came from Kyle, who was sketching at the paper on his lap as though his life depended on it.

"Huh?" he couldn't manage anything more fluent.

"He's right." The bats, while they could sleep anywhere, were also light sleepers, and Kyle's seat was just behind Marie's and Jason's. "Clark Kent isn't a scaredy cat."

"So who is he?" He asked, without really caring about the answer. Marie's mouth is open, but it's Bruce that answers.

"He's the man Kal-El would have been if Krypton hadn't been destroyed." The words sounded like they came from someone who didn't speak very often and wasn't sure if they liked it. "Not a superhero. But a good man."

* * *

"Everyone sure of the plan?" Jason asked for what felt like the hundredth time since they'd landed.

From the roll of Kid Flash's eyes, he agreed with Clark, but he obediently recited.

"I run get the…thingy and slap it on Superman's head."

"Make sure it's superman." Tim warned, adjusting the utility belt. "Clark won't do us much good, it has to be Krypton."

The Kid begins to roll his eyes again, but Marie raises an eyebrow (which Clark guesses is her equivalent of a Bat glare) and he stops.

"Rest of us'll run distraction." Jason shot a glance at Marie who added "we stay back, unless it looks like you guys are in over your heads. Then we go in with conventional. Well as conventional as the Bat cave ever gets." She patted the strange shaped gun at her side. "But if everything goes to plan, we wait until ID is on Superman. Then hopefully I provide cover while they join up."  
Jason nodded.

Clark looked at him, remembering the angry kid who he'd first met. Jason had grown up a lot, it was scary to think that he was still younger than Dick had been when he died.

He looked so much older.

"O.K." Jason said, pulling his mask on more securely. "Let's do this."

* * *

The screams were inhuman. Marie caught Jason looking back at her, and tried to smile, to convince him that they were O.K. and that the situation was actually under some form of control.

Hah!

The only person who even looks vaguely O.K. is J'ONN. And that's mainly because he and John are united in their desire not to join up again.

The rest are a combination between the two, both sides screaming. She can hear mixtures of Kryptonese, mixed in with the yells from Clark. Batman and Bruce…she's no idea what's holding them together. Batman is pulling away, apparently desperate to get away from the emotional mess that is Bruce Wayne.

"Dick." Jason's voice, loud and desperate comes through her ear piece. "Just tell him Dick."

"Jason…" she begins cos she knows as well as anyone that one of the golden rules is you don't mention Dick. Cos Bruce gets even more broody when that happens.

"Just do it!"

She does so, praying that her Nightwing knows what he's doing. The scream isn't identifiable, even as human, but there's a moment. And Suddenly Bruce Wayne and Batman are one.

Kara, suddenly by her side nods.

"On with the plan." She mutters, grabbing Bruce and flinging him in the direction of the thing.

"Bruce." Suddenly Clark and Superman are one, and flying towards Bruce.

"It's working." Marie screams at the Little League. Jason grins.

"O.K.' Flash, do your stuff."

* * *

The bat cave is silent when he makes his way down. Everyone else is upstairs, celebrating the JLA being back together. Everyone except Bruce.

"Don't Blame Marie." He says softly, to the figure by the case. "It was my idea." He moves so he's standing along side him. "Dick's murder broke both of you. But Bruce recovered first." He shrugs. "Only time I could remember that happening."

Bruce nods.

"It was a good plan." He says softly.

"But what I did was wrong." Jason argues, feeling the fury ride up. "I had no right to_"

"No!" the sound is torn from him. "I never want him forgot. Never."

Jason nods softly.

"He won't be." He promises softly, standing in front of the case that holds the original robin Costume, reading the inscription on the Glass

_Dick Grayson._

_1987_

_Robin._

_A good soldier._

_End of Part 1_

_Don't worry, folks. Part 2 is written and will be up soon._


End file.
